1. Technical Field
Aspects of this document relate generally to a porous, valve metal anode capacitor design and manufacture. More specific implementations involve an anode support structure having a plurality of wells or slots containing cathode plates, and to a method for assembling the capacitor.
2. Background Art
There are three known general classifications for arranging the components an electrolytic capacitor. The first type is shown and described in many patents and publications, among them is U.S. Pat. No. 6,952,339 to Knowles (issued Oct. 4, 2005) (“Knowles”). Knowles discloses an arrangement wherein a hollow, cylindrical cathode ring is placed in a capacitor case and a cylindrical anode core in the form of a porous tantalum pellet is placed within the cylindrical cathode ring. The spaces between the cathode and anode components, as well as the pores within the anode itself, are filled with electrolyte. The disclosure of Knowles is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The second type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,362 to Muffoletto (issued Jul. 20, 1999) (“Muffoletto”), among other patents and publications, and describes an arrangement wherein an anode block is placed within a rectangular case. The cathode includes high surface area materials which are applied to either the inside surfaces of the case adjoining the faces of the anodes or to separate plates installed adjacent to these same inside surfaces. In a particular design of Muffoletto, two capacitor cells, each having its own anode pellet and cathode plates, are separated by an intermediate wall within the same casing. Muffoletto provides a good description of how capacitors are generally created, the materials and processes conventionally used to create the capacitors, and the general functionality of capacitors. The disclosure of Muffoletto is hereby incorporated herein by reference for this general understanding of capacitor creation.
In both of the first and second types, the cathodes are electrically connected to the case and the anodes are isolated from the cathodes and from the case in some manner. The electrical connection to the anode(s) is made through an insulated penetration in the case.
The third type is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,295 to Sparkes (issued Oct. 24, 1967) (“Sparkes”), which discloses an arrangement wherein a hollow, cylindrical anode ring is placed in a capacitor case and a cylindrical cathode core is placed within the anode ring. The general structure of FIG. 2 of Sparkes is shown as FIG. 1 (prior art) of the present disclosure for reference, but without reference numbers.